The Seventh Element

Chapter 1

Evil Returns

-2214, 300 years later-

"Anomaly is unknown. Its molecular composition doesn't comply with meteorite standards, and it's too small to be a black hole." Lt. Raptor read of his instruments. Lt. General Roland nodded and looked over his shoulder at the readings.

"Odd. I've never seen anything like this." He murmured. "Do we have temperature readings? Radar, sonar."

"Radar and sonar are acting as if there's nothing there." Lt. Underwood muttered.

"But the thermo-analyzers are going haywire. Some of them say 1000000 degrees, the others, minus 1000000. We also have scattered reports of radio waves, sounds waves in high and low decibels, and there appears to be massive amounts of energy coursing along its interior structure. Whatever it is, it's generating power equivalent to nine times that of the sun."

"Sir, we have visual contact." Raptor said. Roland nodded.

"Alright, punch it up." He ordered. The view port on the Behemoth IV slid open, and the three of them looked ahead into space. Beside them flew the Goliath IX and the Wyvern III. Roland stared ahead. Three planets and their moons were in eclipse. Roland didn't know how often something like that happened, but if the readings from the phenomenon were any indication, it happened too often for his taste.

Before them, a large cloud loomed in space. With a flash of light and a muffled explosion, the cloud contracted into a gigantic ball of rock and magma. It was the size of a large planet, almost three times the size of earth. Roland stared.

"Contact the President. He'll want to know about this."

-Space Station Omni, orbiting Planet Earth. Command Station of the UFT-

"Ladies and gentlemen, I present President Seto James Kaiba, of the United Federation of Territories." Kaiba ignored the recording announcement that played every time the door to his office opened. He made a mental note to fire whoever had programmed the moronic thing sometime later, and turned to the task at hand.

"Let's get this over with. What's going on and who do I fire if it's a waste of my time?" Kaiba snapped, sitting as the desk in the middle of the control room. A tall blonde cleared his throat.

"That would be me sir. General Joseph Wheeler, of the United Federal Forces." He said. Kaiba rolled his eyes.

"Whatever. What's going on?" He demanded.

"Lt. General Roland Thomas has found an anomaly that you might want to see." Joey muttered. Now he remembered why he had voted for Dartz in the 2211 elections. Kaiba punched up a command on his console and picked up his receiver.

"Roland, what's going on out there?"

"We're not sure Mr. President. Our readings on this thing are unreliable, and visually we cannot confirm anything except it appears to be a large planet of magma."

"Really? So you're telling me you have no idea what it is?" Kaiba snorted.

Not yet sir, all we know is that it's getting bigger."

"Recommendations Roland?"

"Shoot first and ask questions later. I'd rather see this thing destroyed then risk it being dangerous." Kaiba nodded.

"Good call Roland, and I agree. You may fire when…"

"Mr. President, sir." A voice called. Joey and Kaiba both looked up. A platinum blonde young man stood up from the small crowd of spectators. "May I offer you a different theory?" The man asked.

"You have five seconds to tell me who you are and provide your explanation." Kaiba snorted. The man stepped out of the crowd and approached Kaiba's desk. A slightly young woman followed him.

"My name is Malik Ishtar, and this is my sister and apprentice Ishizu. Mr. President, if my theory is correct, then shooting will only make this thing stronger."

"Really? And do you know what this thing is then?" Kaiba scoffed.

"Mr. President, this thing cannot be identified become it prefers not to be. Wherever there is light, it brings darkness. Wherever there is life, it delivers death. This thing is Evil, the ultimate evil."

"And you don't want us to shoot it?" Kaiba laughed. "If this thing is evil, then that's another reason to shoot." Malik shook his head sadly.

"Evil spawns Evil, Mr. President. Shooting it will only make it stronger." Kaiba raised an eyebrow and smirked.

"Really? Well, we'll find out, won't we?"

- - - - - - - - - -

"F-97 locked and loaded." Raptor announced. "Goliath IX and Wyvern III are ready to fire."

"Sir, something's happening." Underwood muttered. Roland looked out. The planet was cooling and hardening. The magma turned to hard stone in seconds.

- - - - - - - - - -

"Planet's surface density has increased by 340 percent." Joey muttered. "Surface activity is zero, planet surface has solidified completely."

"Sir…" one of the scientists at the controls said. "I…I think it's anticipating the attack."

"Bullshit, it's a rock. It doesn't think, it doesn't anticipate, it doesn't have a brain!" Kaiba growled.

"This thing does expect the attack. Mr. President, please, it is not too late. Stop the attack. This thing is intelligent beyond imagination, it has the wisdom of centuries." Malik begged. Kaiba glared at him.

"Roland, you may fire when ready."

- - - - - - - - - -

"F-97 locked on target." Raptor said. "Firing." 5 large missiles flew from the Behemoth IV. The other ships followed suit and fired. The fifteen projectiles hit the planet and exploded. There wasn't a spec of noticeable damage.

"Roland? Roland, what's going on?" Kaiba's voice crackled. "Did you destroy it?" Roland gulped.

"I'm about to sir. Raptor, load the G6." Raptor nodded and punched up a series of keys on his console. Two dozen missiles flew from the ship, each roughly the power of a sub-atomic bomb. They impacted with a series of explosions that would destroy anything. Well, almost anything.

"Sir…" Underwood said shakily. "Planet has increased in mass by 200 percent."

"It's moving towards us." Raptor shouted. The two looked up at Roland. The Lt. General was frozen in fear.

"Wha…what do we have that's stronger then the G6?" He asked. Raptor shook his head.

"Nothing sir, it's the strongest military warhead in service." He replied. Roland nodded.

"Oh…" He whispered. Roland's eyes rolled back in his head, and he fell to the ground.

"Roland? Roland, answer me!" Kaiba roared over the intercom. The planet moved closer to the trio of ships as Roland lay convulsing on the floor. Raptor shook Roland's shoulders.

"Captain Roland. Sir, please answer me!" Raptor pleaded. He looked up and gasped as the planet moved even closer.

"Roland, answer me! This is the president, I order you to answer me right now!" A plume of flame shot from the planet and engulfed the three ships.

- - - - - - - - - -

"Contact with Roland and his partner ships has been lost." Joey said grimly. Kaiba cursed and slammed his hands on the desk. Malik raised an eyebrow as the president got to his feet and paced nervously behind his desk.

"Now that you have gotten your men killed, perhaps you'd like hear my theory in more detail?" Malik asked dryly. Kaiba glared at him and sat down.

"This better be good." He growled.